Perry h



Patented Mar. 27, 1923.

UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PERRY I-I. HAMILTON, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE P 86 M COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

BAIL ANCHOR.

Application filed October 15, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PERRY H. HAMILTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments in Rail Anchors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to rail anchors, and it has for its principal object the provision of a new and improved form and arrangement of one-piece anchor which shall have the desired grip upon the base of a rail for enabling it by engagement with a fixed part of the track to prevent movement of the rail longitudinally. It is one of the objects of my invention to provide a very simple form of anchor which can be produced readily and cheaply, and which can be applied satisfactorily by any intelligent workman. It is another object of my invention to provide an anchor of the type comprising a substantially straight transversely extending bar having turned ends which extend about and over the edges of the base flanges of a rail, each of said turned ends being adapted to grip one of the flanges of the rail base independently of the action of the other turned end.

It is still another object of my invention to improve devices of this type in sundry details hereinafter pointed out.

The preferred means by which I have accomplished my several objects, are illustrated in the drawings, and are hereinafter specifically described.

That which I.- believe to be new and desire to cover by Letters Patent is set forth in the claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side view of the preferred embodiment of my invention, shown applied to a rail which is shown in cross-section, the normal position of the end jaws being shown in dotted lines for indicating the displacement of the resilient jaws in the application of the anchor to the rail.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing the anchor in its normalcondition, when first placed upon a rail for application thereto;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing the anchor in its extreme strained condition in its application to the rail, the amount of displacement being indicated by dotted lines.

Serial No. 507,834.

Fig. i is a View similar to Fig. 3, but showing the anchor turned upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 3, and ready for the final movement laterally with respect to the rail for being brought to the posi tion shown in Fig. 1. j i

Referring to the several drawings, in which corresponding parts areindicated by the same reference characters, 10 indicates a rail of any approved type, the head of the rail being broken away in the several figures. My improved anchor in the form' in which itis shown, comprises a straight bar 11 and turned end or jaw members 12 and 13, which are normally spaced away from the bar 11 by a distance equal to the thiclmess of the flanges ofthe rail base at its edge portions, as is clearly indicated by the dotted-line position ofthe'ja-w members in Fig. 1 As will be readily understood, with the anchor applied tothe rail base, as hereinafter described, in such manner that the jaw members extend around and over the edge portions of the flanges of the rail base, and with the anchor adjusted laterally with respect to the rail so that the end jaws are strained equally out of normal position so as to exert an equal pressure'upon the upper faces of the flanges at opposite sides, the anchor is held very securely in' position and is adapted very strongly to resist movement longitudinally of the rail. Inasmuch as the slant ofthe upper face of one flange isthe same as that of the other flange, there is no tendency for the anchor to move laterally out of its adjusted position, regardless of extreme stresses exerted on the anchor longitudinally of the rail, and regardless of any possible arring or vibrating influence s, such as characterize, the use of a rail under heavy trafiic conditions.

For the application of the anchor to a rail, it is first placed in the position shown in Fig. 2, with the end of the jaw 13 in readiness to pass into position upon the upper face of one of the flanges of the rail, andYwith the beveled upper face 14; of the jaw'12- in snug engagement with the edge of the other flange. The anchor is then, moved towards the left in the figures, into the position shown in Fig. 3,being given such movement by the application of power at the right, being preferably driven into such position. by a succession of blows upon the end of the anchor. This movement of the anchor causes the jaw 13 to be spread with respect to the bar 11 beyond the extent necessary normally for receiving the edge of the flange of the rail, this being by reason of the necessary slightly diagonal position of the anchor with respect to the rail. In Fig. 3. dotted lines are employed, apparently indicating that the entire strain occurs at the jaw 13 and that the remainder of the an chor during the first part of the operation of applying the anchor to the rail retains its normal shape without distortion. This is done only for the sake of illustration as showing the extreme limit of the distortion of the jaw 13. It is understood, of course, that in bringing the anchor to the position of distortion shown in Fig. 3, all parts of the anchor are put under tension.

hen, in the movement of the anchor towards the left in Fig. 3, the end of the jaw 12 clears the edge of the flange of the rail base, the anchor is brought into the position shown in Fig. 4, after which, by the application of power upon its left end, as shown in said figure, the anchor is moved towards the right for bringing the jaw 12 into engagement with the upper face of the adjacent flange. This movement of the anchor towards the right, serves to loosen the grip of the jaw 13 at the same time that the grip of the jaw 12 is being increased. When the anchor reaches a position in which the displacement of the jaws l2 and 13 from their normal position is substantially the same, so that their pressure upon the upper faces of the flanges is substantially the same, the movement of the anchor laterally with respect to the rail is terminated, leaving the anchor in the position shown in the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 1.

In the preferred form of anchor, the bar 11 and end jaws l2 and 13 are rectangular in cross-section, but any suitable form may be used. As will be readily understood, as the anchor is moved under tension laterally with respect to the rail, the ends of the jaws 12 and 13 have a tendency to cut grooves in the upper surfaces of the flanges, by reason of which the holding power of the anchor is materially increased. Inasmuch as the anchor is not given any movement longitudinally of the rail, during the operation of applying it to the rail base, the anchor is enabled to have a very firm seat on the rail, so as to be effective for resisting longitudinal movement of the rail. In Fig. 1 the anchor is shown as being in contact with a cross-.tie 15 by which it is held against movement in one direction.

So far as I am aware, I am the first in the art to provide a one-piece rail anchor, comprising a substantially straight transverse bar, which has snug engagement with the under face of the rail base, and comprising jaws which grip the opposite edge portions of such base. By giving the anchor such snug engagement along the bottom face of the rail, I avoid any probability of the anchor becoming loosend by cinders or gravel working in between the anchor and the rail, or by reason of upward pressure on the anchor by material beneath the transverse bar.

I claim:

1. A rail anchor comprising a bar having turned ends in substantial alinement with each other each of which independently of the other is adapted to extend over and to grip one of the opposite flanges of a rail base.

2. A rail anchor comprising a bar having turned end aws which are adapted by movement transversely of the rail to be brought into gripping engagement with the opposite flanges of the rail, each of said jaws being adapted independently of the other jaw to grip its flange by transverse movement into position thereon.

3. A rail anchor comprising a body portion adapted to engage the bottom face of a rail at its side margin portions, a turned end jaw at one end adapted by movement of the anchor transversely of the rail to be brought into gripping engagement with one of the flanges of the rail, and a second turned end jaw at the opposite end adapted by reverse movement of the anchor transversely of the rail to be brought into gripping engagement with the other of the flanges.

4:. A rail anchor comprising a substantially straight body portion adapted to engage the bottom face of the rail across its full width, a turned end jaw at one end adapted by movement of the anchor transversely of the rail to be brought into gripping engagement with one of the flanges of the rail, and a second turned end aw at the opposite end adapted by reverse movement of the anchor transversely of the rail to be brought into gripping engagement with the other of the flanges.

5. A rail anchor comprising a bar having turned end jaws by which the anchor is adapted to be tightened upon a. rail, the ends of the jaws being at a shorter distance apart than the width of the rail base, and the normal opening of the jaws at their ends with respect to the bar being substantially the same as the thickness of the flanges at their outer edges.

6. A rail anchor comprising a body portion adapted to engage the bot-tom face of a rail at its side margin portions, a turned end jaw at one end adapted by movement of the anchor transversely of the rail to be brought into gripping engagement with one of the flanges of the rail, and a second turned end jaw at the opposite end adapted by reverse movement of the anchor transversely of the rail to be brought into gripping engagement with the other of the flanges, the distance between the ends of the jaws being shorter than the width of the rail base.

7. A rail anchor comprising a body portion, a short turned end jaw at one end adapted to grip one flange of a rail between it and the underlying portion of the body, and a comparatively longer turned end jaw at the opposite end adapted to grip the 0pposite flange of the rail between it and the portion of the body underlying said longer jaw, the distance between the ends of the jaws being shorter than the width of the rail base whereby it is necessary to give the anchor an excessive transverse movement in one direction and a subsequent retraction for applying the anchor.

8. A rail anchor comprising a bar having a short turned end jaw at one end and a long turned end jaw at the opposite end said long jaw being adapted to be given an excessive transverse movement on a rail base beyond its normal gripping position thereon and adapted then effectively to grip said flange when retracted to' its normal gripping position, the short jaw bein adapted upon the retraetive movement oi the long jaw to be brought into gripping engagement with the opposite flange.

PERRY H. HAMILTON. 

